Ten of my Toys from the 1980s that I still own

We all had favourite toys growing up in the 80s. Chief among them, He-man. Sadly, after a purge found out about after the fact, I no longer have my collection. Which was just about complete, by the way. Oh, well. I thought I’d spotlight the only two figures known to have survived the purge. Stinkor, and Man E Faces, as well as about the other childhood toys that I’ve managed to hang on to.

He may not have his armour nor his weapons, but Stinkor is still holding on. Stinkless, though he may be. I’ve thought about trying to duplicate the smell, but decided that it wouldn’t be the same.

Man-E-Faces. A fun little guy. Like Stinkor, he doesn’t have his weapons, but he’s right there next to Stinkor. Two old soldiers that have managed to survived. He’s in pretty good shape for what I put him through in the 80s. Stand tall and proud, Man-E-Faces. And bow-legged, too.

Tomy Tutor Play Computer

While I had a real computer to play with, an Apple II, I still had a lot of fun with this when I was little. I could sit for hours winding up the little yellow knob and watching the pictures move. This little guy is, right now, sitting on a shelf in my closet, dreaming of what used to be.

Ah…Batman. Batmania 1989. How could you ever be forgotten. I remember seeing the movie in the theater in the mall. The theater was just across from the greatest arcade ever concieved of by mankind. Space Port. Which had a counter set up to sell all sorts of Batman stuff. Little pvc Jokers that hung from a string, and for me at least, the batmobiles. The summer of 1989 was just magical. I’ve managed to hang on to some of the toys I had. Primarily the diecast Batwing and Batmobile. The Batmobile came in different sizes. The standard Matchbox/Hotwheels sized one and one that’s about 3 times larger. Oh, the fun I had with these when I was a kid. And, I’m not ashamed to admit, the fun I’ve had quite recently. I don’t know the exact location, but I’m pretty sure that I have a radio controlled Batmobile around here somewhere….

Rainbow Brite. I would probably get beat up for this today, but when I was a boy kid, I had plenty of girly toys. Rainbow Brite being one of my favourites. I no longer have the big baby sized doll nor the smaller, only few inches tall doll. But still hanging on, are two little Sprites, Champ, the blue, and Spark, the yellow. For years, I only knew that I still had the blue Sprite. But not too long ago, I found the yellow one down behind our washer and dryer. After a quick bath in the washer, he (or is it she?) is just about as good as new. Both of my old friends now sit proudly in my room.

One really odd toy I found in my room a while back is a sheriff Socket-Popper. I don’t recall getting this when I was a kid, so I’m at a loss. But it’s a cool little toy, nonetheless. There were several of these things where you could pop off, hence the name, the head and arms and legs and swap them between each other. That’s pretty much all I can say about them. Like I said, I don’t remember anything about them.

Popples. Now THIS is something that I can talk about. Popples were little, depending on which version you bought, balls of fur that you could unfold into a fun, puffy toy. There was a bunch of different coloured popples. The one that I remember, and still have, is PC Popple. One of the best things about the Popples was the live action movie that Shelly Duvall made in the early 80s. Unfortunately, this special isn’t on dvd. Though, it is on an old VHS tape that can be found….if you don’t mind spending far more than you’d ever spend on a single dvd. It can be found for much cheaper as a bootleg on certain sites, though.
I still have P.C. Popple sitting in my closet. He’s not as brightly coloured as he once was. And his fur lays a little flatter and could use a good cleaning, but P.C. is still alive and kicking.

Freddy Teddy. This is the very first stuffed animal that I ever received. He, too, is still around. And best of all, his squeeker still works. Apparently, Freddy is quite expensive if you’re interested in one. I looked on ebay and found them for anywhere from 24 dollars up to about 70 dollars. Glad my mom didn’t pay that much.